An assessment of the quantitative skills of students taking introductory college biology courses

Twenty-three mathematical competencies were identified and a 46-item multiple choice test was developed to measure the extent to which students entering introductory college biology courses possessed these competencies. Students enrolled in semester-long introductory courses for science majors and non-science majors were given the test at the beginning and end of the courses. The relationships between the mathematical competencies possessed by students at the beginning of the semester and 15 variables dealing with student characteristics were examined. Also investigated was the relationship between test scores and the type of mathematics courses taken during the semester students were enrolled in the introductory biology courses.     

Teaching/learning styles,performance, and students' teaching evaluation in S/T/E/S-focused science teacher education: A quasiquantitative probe of a case study

In response to the new needs for S/T/E/S-literate science teachers, an S/T/E/S-oriented ISMMC-IEE combination model of instruction was implemented in two specially designed undergraduate courses and one graduate course within college science teacher training programs. These three courses served as case studies for class-based, quasiquantitative pilot investigation aimed at gaining a deeper insight into some of the issues involved in the implementation in college of nontraditional, open-ended, problem-solving-oriented teaching strategies which are in dissonance with the cognitive or affective styles and functional paradigms of most students. This probe into the dissonance issue revealed that prospective teachers are capable of handling the new instructional model and do gain in their higher-level cognitive learning. However, undergraduates perceive these courses to be either difficult or not in accord with their needs, and their appreciation of the instructional techniques and style employed is different from that of graduate students accordingly. The current study suggests that although the ISMMC-IEE model is useful in S/T/E/S-oriented courses in science teacher training programs, special attention to the implementation stage is required to close the gap between students' and S/T/E/S educators' functional paradigms.     

An effective intervention with a blended learning environment for improving cognitive learning and spiritual meaning

According to cognitive and spiritual developmental theories, individuals construct and transcend their previous thought processes by incorporating more sophisticated ways of understanding the world as they progress through stages requiring efforts in different modes of thought. These theories focus on the importance of contextual variables in development and emphasize that these variables will spark a change in cognitive and spiritual development or awareness. We have investigated the effects of blended learning on cognitive learning and spiritual interpretations of science teacher candidates. The study with a quasi-experimental design had 54 science teacher candidates attending the science education department of a state university in Turkey. Our study showed that when learning Einstein’s theory of special relativity, a blended learning environment affects students’ cognitive learning positively. In the spiritual sense, too, significant results were found in favor of the blended learning group students. This effect that triggers spiritual change has been discussed in two contexts: “the effect embedded in the variable” and “indirect effect from the variable.” If supported by further research, the results of this study suggest that the spiritual dimension can be incorporated into three domains of learning, namely cognitive, affective, and psychomotor.

     

Question Asking in the Science Classroom: Teacher Attitudes and Practices

Despite the wide agreement among educators that classroom learning and teaching processes can gain much from student and teacher questions, their potential is not fully utilized. Adopting the view that reporting both teachers’ (of varying age groups) views and actual classroom practices is necessary for obtaining a more complete view of the phenomena at hand, the present study closely examines both cognitive and affective domains of: (a) teachers’ views (via interviews) concerning: (1) importance and roles of teacher and student questions, (2) teacher responses, and (3) planning and teacher training; and (b) teachers’ actual practices (via classroom observations) concerning: (1) number and (2) level of teacher and student questions, as well as (3) teachers’ responses to questions. The data were collected from 3 elementary, 3 middle, and 3 high school science teachers and their respective classroom students. The findings lay out a wide view of classroom questioning and teachers’ responses, and relate what actually occurs in classes to teachers’ stated views. Some of the study’s main conclusions are that a gap exists between how science researchers and teachers view the role of teacher questions: the former highlight the cognitive domain, while the latter emphasize the affective domain.     

Factors influencing student academic performance in online high school algebra

This paper describes the effect of teacher comments, students’ demographic information and learning management system utilisation on student final scores in algebra courses in a K–12 virtual learning environment. Students taking algebra courses in a state virtual school in the Midwestern US region during 2007–2008 participated in this study. Student final scores on these courses were collected using tests administered at the end of semester in the virtual school courses. The hierarchical linear modelling technique was used for data analysis to account for the influence of school characteristics on student final scores. The results show these factors have different influences on student final scores in different algebra courses. The discussion of the findings addresses the implications for teaching.     

The Impact of Instructional Design on College Students’ Cognitive Load and Learning Outcomes in a Large Food Science and Human Nutrition Course

The effective design of course materials is critical for student learning, especially for large lecture introductory courses. This quantitative study was designed to explore the effect multimedia and content difficulty has on students’ cognitive load and learning outcomes. College students (n = 268) were randomized into 1 of 3 multimedia groups: text + graphics (Group 1–TG); audio + text + graphics (Group 2–ATG); or video + audio + text + graphics (Group 3–VATG). Participants answered a demographic survey and pretests before viewing 2 food science supplemental lecture materials (i.e., water mobility and amino acid structures) and completing the cognitive load instrument and post‐tests within a noncontrolled setting. Cognitive load scores were tabulated and compared using a 3 × 3 ANOVA and Tukey post hoc analysis across multimedia groups and food science supplemental lecture materials. Based on the post hoc, students in Group 1–TG had higher intrinsic cognitive load scores than Group 2–ATG (ANOVA, P < 0.05). Cognitive load and post‐test scores were tabulated and compared using a spearman correlation across groups. In Group 1–TG, students that reported less intrinsic cognitive load had higher post‐test scores. Also, students that reported more germane cognitive load had higher post‐test scores. In Groups 2–ATG and 3–VATG, students that reported less extraneous cognitive load had higher post‐test scores (ANOVA, P < 0.05).     

远程学习者辍学影响因素的追踪对比研究

本研究以某省级电大2010年春季入学的英语专业本科生为研究样本,对其进行追踪调查,对比分析了第一学期和第二学期辍学生在个人背景、学习情况及辍学原因上的异同。研究数据通过网上调查问卷和深度访谈的方式获得,并在"远程教育辍学归因框架"下,使用量化统计和质性研究工具Nvivo 8.0进行编码和分析。研究发现,第二学期的辍学生比之前者,尽管学习目标更加明确,英语基础较好,学习投入更多,但其努力程度依然有限,加之课程难度增加,学校教学支持服务又不到位,使其在工学矛盾等环境因素的刺激下最终做出辍学的决定。与第一学期相比,导致辍学的因素更趋多样化,且激烈程度大为降低;隶属于远程教育机构的因素在辍学影响中发挥着更大的作用。     

Evaluating prospective elementary teachers' understanding of science and mathematics in a model preservice program

Two cohorts of students preparing to become elementary teachers participated in a model program in science and mathematics. These students were compared to other students taking similar courses on their conceptual understandings of science and mathematics, their investigative proficiencies, and their beliefs about effective methods of teaching these subjects. Instruments included newly developed tests of understanding, existing standardized achievement tests, and instruments devised for the evaluation to elicit conceptions of appropriate ways to teach science and mathematics to elementary children. Results from individual courses indicated that students participating in the model program developed more thorough understandings and more reform-minded beliefs related to teaching science and mathematics. Issues associated with the assessment and evaluation of innovative programs in science and mathematics are discussed, and recommendations for teacher preparation are offered.     

The science support scale: Its appropriateness with high school students

Implementing the idea that more emphasis should be placed on student achievement in the affective domain is contingent upon the concurrent development of suitable instruments for the assessment of prescribed criteria. One such instrument, the Schwirian Science Support Scale (Tri-S scale), was reported in a recent NSTA publication as a promising tool for measuring student science support. Recent research using the Tri-S scale with high school pupils showed that scores on this instrument did not increase after the students had taken a tenth grade introductory course in biology. Further analysis indicated students of teachers scoring “high” in science support did not produce higher scores on the Tri-S scale than students studying biology from teachers “low” in science support. Reliability estimates using high school student scores were well below previous estimates using scores from college undergraduates. Factor analysis of inter-item correlations indicated that student interpretation of item meaning did not correspond to the five subtest structure of the Tri-S scale. Findings from this study demonstrate that the Tri-S scale is not an appropriate instrument for measuring attitudinal changes of tenth grade high school students. This study is suggestive of the fact that went and future instruments that purport to measure achievement in noncognitive areas should be carefully analyzed before they are recommended for use with specific populations.     

Sources of Self-efficacy in a Science Methods Course for Primary Teacher Education Students

Self-efficacy has been shown to be an issue of concern for primary teacher education students – many of them have low self-efficacy and this can negatively affect their future teaching of science. Previous research has identified four factors that may contribute towards self-efficacy: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and physiological/affective states. It could also be argued that there are additional sources of self-efficacy that apply to primary teacher education students, namely cognitive content mastery, cognitive pedagogical mastery and simulated modelling. The main purpose of the present paper was to investigate the relative importance of the various sources of self-efficacy in a primary science methods course. Data on changes in self-efficacy and sources of self-efficacy were collected throughout the course using formal and informal surveys. It was found that the main source of self-efficacy was cognitive pedagogical mastery.     

Personality Characteristics,Belief Systems,and Cognitive Performance of Exiting Teacher Education Students

This study examined relationships within and between measures of personality characteristics, personal and teaching practices beliefs, levels of dogmatism, and cognitive out-comes (NTE scores and GPA) for a sample (n=63) of teacher education students at the time of exiting a teacher education program. Moderate, negative correlations were established between dogmatism and the cognitive outcomes. Teaching practices beliefs consistent with the philosophy of John Dewey were positively related to both NTE scores and GPA, but were inversely related to dogmatic beliefs. Personality characteristics were essentially unrelated to the cognitive outcomes examined, but were consistently found to relate positively to dogmatism scores. Other results of the study questioned the subscale independence of the personality measure used. Results were interpreted in terms of past research with the various cognitive and affective measures used and implications for teacher education program planners and evaluators were discussed.     

Linking Mathematics and Psychological Science

Abstract

We describe a successful collaboration between mathematics and psychological science faculty members to create a learning community for our students that linked sections of introductory mathematical reasoning and psychological science courses. The students in our learning community were in their second or third semester. The learning community is designed so that, throughout the semester, students regularly move across the border between the two linked disciplines by completing common assignments, including a group project. We modified our existing course topics and frameworks to be intentional about building connections between the courses.     

The impact of teacher immediacy on students' motivation: Is it the same for all students?

This study investigated the impact of teachers’ use of immediacy behaviors on students’ reported motivation to study over the course of a semester. Students’ state and trait motivation to study for a class was measured at three points during a semester. Reports of teachers’ use of verbal and nonverbal immediacy were collected at two points in a semester. It was hypothesized that not all students would respond similarly to a teacher low in immediacy. Support was found for this hypothesis. Students beginning the semester with either low or moderate state motivation to study were found to have increased levels of motivation later in the semester when exposed to a highly immediate teacher. Students beginning the semester with high motivation maintained high motivation regardless of the level of immediacy they reported their teacher of having.     

Determinants of the competence and confidence of teacher education students studying primary science education

Conclusion This study suggests that most students entering science or science education units in preservice primary teacher education courses have a positive attitude to the teaching/learning of primary science and see value in all domains of science for children at this stage. This was an unexpected finding. It was of concern however, that their interest in physical science topics was so low. This may be due to previous specific experiences in secondary science. Science and science education units should build on the positive attitudes of students and could develop physical science ideas through their significance in environmental and social problems. Specializations: science education, teacher education in science. Specializations: science education policy and practice, teacher education, school effectiveness.     

Science education for environmental awareness: approaches to integrating cognitive and affective domains

Science education has an important part in developing understanding of concepts that underpin environmental issues, leading potentially to pro‐environmental behaviour. However, science is commonly perceived negatively, leading to inappropriate and negative models of science that do not connect to people’s experiences. The article argues that the cognitive and affective domains need to be explicitly integrated in a science education that informs environmental education, as a sense of relationship is essential for environmental care and responsibility leading to informed action. The features of such approaches to science education are discussed through analysis of the impact of modern and constructive postmodern science education models on environmental education, and possible strategies for making connections between cognitive and affective domains are proposed. The analysis incorporates the development of positive approaches to science and environmental issues through teacher modelling of biophilic behaviour, active learning through constructivist pedagogy, the politicisation of science education to address social and environmental issues, suitable experiences of natural environments and living organisms, and science curricula that emphasise conceptual integration to demonstrate complex environmental effects, including the environmental consequences of human behaviour.     

The development and application of affective assessment in an upper‐level cell biology course

This study exemplifies how faculty members can develop instruments to assess affective responses of students to the specific features of the courses they teach. Means for assessing three types of affective responses are demonstrated: (a) student attitudes towards courses with differing instructional objectives and methodologies, (b) student self‐efficacy (confidence) in completing tasks common to practicing experts, and (c) interests in subject‐specific topics and associated intellectual skills. The iterative processes used in refining the instruments and performing the statistical analyses of their effectiveness are detailed. An analysis of data obtained using these instruments is also included. Positive attitudes towards courses emphasizing analytical thinking increased significantly over the course of a 14‐week semester, as did the measures of self‐efficacy. Despite the rigorous analytical nature of the course experience, the initial strong interest in cell biology topics and higher order thinking skills remained unchanged. There were no significant differences based on gender in any of the affective measures. We discuss the apparent dichotomy, revealed in these assessments, between students' idealistic, academic attitudes towards the course's effectiveness and their opinions of its effects on them personally. We conclude by reporting how insights garnered both from these formal assessments and from anecdotal communications have prompted experimental modifications in the design and conduct of the course. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1057–1087, 2007     

Relational integration as a predictor of academic achievement

The current study aimed at applying a broad model of cognitive functions to predict performance in science and language courses at school as well as performance in a science course at university. We hypothesized that performance in science courses was predominantly related to the cognitive function known as relational integration, whereas performance in language courses should be best explained by individuals' short-term memory capacity. The sample consisted of 161 German undergraduate students who were asked to complete 33 cognitive tasks. School grades were also obtained. The analyses revealed that relational integration incrementally explained variance in science grades. Short-term memory acted as a predictor of language grades. However, mental speed was also substantially related to language grades. Predicting university exam scores revealed that short-term memory yielded an incremental predictive power. We conclude that academic performance requires different cognitive functions depending on a domain of study.     

Decreasing course content improves student comprehension of science and attitudes towards science in freshman biology

This study demonstrates a small, but significant, difference in prior understanding of basic biological concepts between students enrolled in majors' versus nonmajors' introductory biology courses. By the end of their respective courses, nonmajors demonstrated greater improvement in posttest scores than did majors. Furthermore, although initially students in the major course had a significantly more positive attitude towards science, especially in terms of personal comfort with science, by the end of the course this difference disappears. Following a semester of instruction, the attitudes of nonmajors generally improved, but student attitudes in the majors' classes declined in nearly all categories. We demonstrate a significant instructor effect in these results.     

Simultaneous testing of four decades of academic self-concept models

In separate studies on academic self-concept, previous research has shown: (1) the distinctiveness of a cognitive and an affective component, (2) the domain specificity of self-concepts, (3) the reciprocal effects of self-concept and achievement, (4) the internal/external frame of reference in self-concept development, (5) the reciprocal effects of the internal/external frame of reference, (6) the big-fish-little-pond effect, and (7) the interrelatedness of self-concepts in similar domains. The present study demonstrates that all of these seven findings are replicable and may be synthesized in a single study with a sample of students in Singapore. Secondary 1 students (7th graders; N = 275) were surveyed with 24 items about their academic self-concepts in physics, English, and math in two components (cognitive and affective), and their respective achievement scores were recorded over two time points. Confirmatory factor analysis found that the cognitive and affective components of academic self-concept were separable. The students’ self-concepts in different curriculum domains were distinct, supporting the domain specificity of self-concepts. The frame of reference and reciprocal effects were both supported, but only for the cognitive component of self-concept. Positive and statistically significant correlations between physics and math suggest that these curriculum domains were interrelated. Results of self-concept studies in schools can encourage and guide the design of interventions that could enhance students’ self-concept for positive sustainable effects on desirable educational outcomes. Attempts to improve learning outcomes should emphasize an enhancement of specific components of academic self-concept in domain-specific and related curriculum domains for optimal effects.     

Electronic Versus Print Textbooks: The Influence of Textbook Format on University Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Strategies,Motivation, and Text Anxiety

Because a majority of university students do not regularly read course textbooks, a study was conducted to determine if portable electronic textbooks (e-textbooks) would increase university student motivation to read by enhancing cognitive learning strategies and self-regulation of learning. The participants included 538 university students who self-chose to use either a print or e-textbook throughout the semester. The dependent variables self-efficacy, intrinsic value, cognitive strategies, self-regulation, and text anxiety were measured in each of two groups of participants using the Technology Confidences and Attitudes scale and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). The results of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) analysis indicated that there was a significant difference in the students’ MSLQ scores based on their choice of textbook format. These results imply that students who use e-textbooks are more likely to use cognitive and self-regulation strategies than students who use traditional print textbooks in their courses.